


Push and Pull, Or the Principles of Tides

by IntelligentAirhead



Category: Kamen Rider Fourze
Genre: F/F, Other characters appear but not for enough time to get character tags, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-25
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2019-03-23 18:38:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13793763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IntelligentAirhead/pseuds/IntelligentAirhead
Summary: Learning to take things as they come takes on new meanings when your crush is fond of handing out magical gifts.Or, three times Tomoko gave Yuuki gifts, and one time Yuuki returned the favor.





	Push and Pull, Or the Principles of Tides

**Author's Note:**

> Happy femslash february!! Here are some girls who love each other and the moon

Yuuki isn’t sure why she volunteered to help Tomoko-chan gather spell components. Sure, it’s a nice thing to do, and Tomoko-chan’s magic _is_ really interesting, but also…

Tomoko-chan shakes a bottle of cicada shells, and the sound they make bouncing off each other is enough to make Yuuki wish she didn’t have ears.

What if Tomoko-chan wants Yuuki to pick up more of the shells? What if she needs more snake skins, or beetles, or something’s _blood_? What if Yuuki can’t bring herself to do it, or worse, can’t say no because Tomoko-chan’s smiling down at the shells, a smile as bright as light reflecting off a satellite, and she looks so pleased, and— right, that’s why Yuuki volunteered.

Sometimes being hopelessly in love with one of her best friends feels a lot like flinging herself straight into the asteroid belt. Or maybe that would be preferable.

‘Yuuki!’ One of the asteroids would greet, ‘Meet the Flora family! Aunty Chicxulub killed all the dinosaurs, so surely one of her children would be capable of putting you out of your misery! Isn’t space great? In space, no one has to think about how pretty their friend is, and how she looks like a princess, and how her face shines in the moonlight—’

“You don’t have to help if you don’t want to,” Tomoko-chan says, and oh no.

Oh no, Yuuki’s been spacing out too much, but she can fix this. She’ll say something cool that lets Tomoko-chan know she’s been paying attention, but in a casual, I’m-definitely-not-in-love-with-you way.

“Did you know the Flora family of asteroids is sometimes called the Ariadne family?” Great! Nailed it!

Unless… What if Tomoko-chan thought she wasn’t paying attention? That won’t do at all! She can fix it though— time to bring it back around!

“Like, uh, the spiders! The spider molting bits. That you were collecting earlier! Ariadne.”

Tomoko-chan cocks her head. “You mean… Arachne?”

Oh. Oh no.

“Although, Ariadne does have her place,” Tomoko-chan says.  “Knot magic and yarn can be used for…” She smiles, pressing her finger tips together. “A great deal of things.” She stares up at the moon, smile growing softer. “They can be like switches, if you use them correctly.”

Yuuki hums, scrunching up her face in thought. “What do you… And how do you use them?” She can’t help picturing Tomoko-chan in a knit version of the Fourze suit, launching magic scarves at zodiarts.

“Protection spells, mostly. Energy storage too, and glamours, sometimes, but…” Tomoko-chan points at the moon. At the rabbit hutch. “You— all of you— need protection.”

After a moment, she looks at Yuuki. “I’ll knit you a scarf,” she says, voice decisive. Then she starts walking, and Yuuki has to jog to catch up.

 

* * *

 

There’s something wrong with Tomoko-chan, and Yuuki can’t figure out what it is. After all, nothing too terrible has happened lately; the school’s been free of Zodiart sightings for at least two weeks, and Yuuki would notice if Tomoko-chan was having trouble with someone.

Unless she was having trouble with _Yuuki?_

No, that doesn’t make any sense. Yuuki hadn’t done anything wrong! And if she had, Tomoko-chan would tell her! They… Well, they have to trust each other by now! And Yuuki trusts Tomoko-chan to tell her if she’s doing something bad.

Which drops Yuuki right back at square one: what reason could Tomoko-chan possibly have to be sighing to herself while staring out at the moon— _the moon_! The one place she’d always wanted to be!

Unless…

Tomoko-chan can’t be tired of the moon, right?

Yuuki tugs on the scarf Tomoko-chan made her, trying to beat back the thought. It wouldn’t make any sense; this is the Kamen Rider Club’s _home_. It’s where they belong, the closest they’ve gotten to—

“Unfortunate,” Tomoko-chan mumbles, breaking Yuuki’s train of thought.

“Ah-huh?” Yuuki furrows her brow into something she would really like to be a casually quizzical expression. “What is?

“Water boils itself into non-existence in space. In its desperation to strive towards the stars, it destroys the very thing that makes it itself… How very sad.” Tomoko-chan frowns at her hands, and oh. Oh, she isn’t talking about water at all.

“Tomoko-chan…” Yuuki starts, then stops. She crosses the room, only to hover uselessly with her hand near Tomoko-chan’s shoulder, but not touching. Like a satellite. Like a moon.

Yuuki bites her lip, thinking, then grins. “Well! We’re in space, aren’t we? And astronauts are out there!” She points emphatically at the stars, and she can see them out there, almost, and she can see herself, almost, almost there.  

“And we have water inside us! It stays itself, but it also makes us, us, and we found out how to make that happen! We can still go out there, Tomoko-chan. Maybe not just like we dreamed, but we still found a way, with the help of friends, and some very nice machines, and—” She taps her hand against Tomoko’s shoulder in thought, trying to pull her words together. “By trying to understand things that we maybe don’t! At least not properly!”

Tomoko-chan looks up at her and smiles, and warmth gathers in Yuuki’s stomach.

“That’s a very good point,” Tomoko-chan says, “but unfortunately… the difficulty of making moon water on the moon’s surface…” She looks out the window. “That is what I was thinking of.”

Ah.

Well, that’s it. Nothing for it. Time to launch herself into space. Maybe Nadeshiko will rescue her and she can embarrass herself in front of another cute girl.

“Ahhhh, I see,” Yuuki says, laughter coming out in an awkward stutter, and how long has her hand been on Tomoko-chan’s shoulder?

Tomoko-chan reaches up and squeezes Yuuki’s hand, and okay, yes, that is definitely happening, alright.

“I...” Tomoko-chan trails off, and it takes a small eternity before she completes her thought. “I appreciate you saying that, though,” she says, finally, then stands up.

“You’ve given me something to work with,” she says, then pulls out a vial of something clear from her bag. She wiggles it in thought, a smile creeping across her face. Then without warning, she turns and presses it into Yuuki’s hand.

“For safekeeping,” She says, then leaves the Rabbit Hutch.

Yuuki bites her lip, trying to fight against the smile forming on her face, but it’s no use. It’s like trying to fight the tide, or gravity, or the warm rush of affection that fills her stomach every time she looks around the Rabbit Hutch and thinks, ‘oh, this is home,’ and so she stops fighting and lets it come.

 

* * *

 

Tomoko-chan’s taste in music isn’t really anything surprising at this point. Her ability to make her voice sound like multiple people are singing at once is still kind of scary, though. Scary, but impressive! Which is very Tomoko-chan!

After all, Tomoko-chan is Tomoko-chan, which means that it’s practically expected for her to be clipping herbs onto the table in the dark, while singing along to a visual kei song Yuuki’s never heard before. In a way, it’s comforting. It’s something Yuuki can count on; an unquestioned constant in—

Sudden, blinding light redirects Yuuki’s thoughts with as much brutal efficiency as Jupiter pulling in a passing meteor.

Squinting spots out of her eyes, Yuuki blinks up at the culprit. “ _Kengo-kun_!”

Kengo-kun stands, arms-crossed, next to the light switch, not looking sorry in the least.

“How long have you two been sitting in the dark?” He asks, voice tense in the way that means he wants a certain answer but knows he isn’t going to get it.

Yuuki squints at him, blinking away the light spots in her eyes. “Not too long!”

“Mhmmm,” Tomoko-chan hums in agreement. “Only three and a half hours.”

“No.” Kengo-kun says, a flat refusal. “You are going to ruin your eyes. No more.”

“You’re trying to kill me,” Tomoko-chan says, and it’s… kind of concerning how confident she sounds. Although not nearly as concerning as how impressed she looks.

“Yes, absolutely,” Kengo-kun says, and that is _not_ the right answer! “That’s why I just explained my reasoning three seconds ago, citing my exact complaints and concern for your safety. So I could justify killing you.”

“I knew it,” Tomoko-chan says, satisfied, then goes back to clipping herbs. Then, after a beat, she looks up. “The analysis report on the most recent switch is on your desk.”

“Is it in Japanese? And not in code?”

Tomoko-chan is silent for a moment. “...My analysis report for the switch is on your desk.”

Kengo-kun sighs, then moves to his desk before removing a heavy looking book from his shelf.

Yuuki looks rapidly between the two of them, then lets out an explosive sigh of relief when she sees they’re both smiling— at least, a little, anyway.

Sometimes it seems like there aren’t any laws governing the way Yuuki’s friends interact, and it makes them hard to predict. Although… Really, it’s probably just a system Yuuki hasn’t studied enough yet. Like physics! They might make her brain want to melt sometimes, but people use them all the time. Who’s to say social interactions aren’t the same?

Besides, just because something seems out-of-place, that doesn’t mean it’s wrong. Yuuki’s sure of that one.

The Rabbit Hutch opens again, letting Gen-chan through, followed by everyone else, all yelling about something to do with the culture festival, and, oh, they’re an asterism.

Everything slots into place because of course! Of course, the Kamen Rider Club would be an asterism. They fight against the constellations that try to restrict them and find their own group! They shine brighter, together, a cluster of stars that determine their own story.

Of _course_ they’re an asterism.

Yuuki looks up, grinning, and finds Tomoko-chan staring back at her, eyes wide. For some reason, this time it doesn’t make her self-conscious, or nervous. Instead she just feels… really warm. She’s surrounded by people she loves— she’s surrounded by stars— and it’s so warm.

“I’m glad,” Tomoko-chan says, without prompting, because sometimes she just _knows_ things and it’s so cool, and so her, and also, frankly, a little scary because Yuuki likes to think she’s been doing a really good job of keeping her feelings hidden, but it wouldn’t be Tomoko-chan without that slight edge of intimidation anyway.

“I’m really glad,” she repeats, then hands Yuuki something soft.

Looking down, there’s something light blue in her hand. It looks kind of like a doll pillow, and maybe it’s a pillow for Hayabusa-kun? But he’s a bit too big for…

Tomoko-chan gestures to the herbs in front of her, then at a pile of cloth that Yuuki could swear wasn’t there earlier, and ohhhhh. Okay. Herb sachets. Right.

Yuuki nods, confident now, lifts the sachet, and promptly smacks herself in the nose trying to smell it with too much enthusiasm.

“Ow! Ow.” She winces, and then there’s a hand on her face, and her head is being tilted back, and Tomoko is _right there,_ too close, and staring up her nose because she’s checking for a nosebleed oh okay. That makes… more sense.

Yuuki isn’t disappointed. She’s not.

It would have been a bad time for a kiss anyway. Probably.

“Are you alright, Yuuki?” Gen-chan asks, and yes, definitely, that would have been the worst time, actually! Everyone’s here! No first kisses in front of all her friends!

“Yes!” Yuuki manages to squeak out, rearing back, and then there’s nothing keeping her up because she tipped her chair too far and she’s falling and—

She doesn’t hit the ground.

Gen-chan’s still yelling in the background, and Miu’s ‘oops’-ing, and JK might be laughing, but that’s okay because Tomoko-chan is holding Yuuki up, and as embarrassing as this rube-goldberg machine of misadventure has been, it may have, maybe, turned out just fine, actually.

“That’s strange,” Tomoko-chan says, helping Yuuki back into her seat. “Even if the sage and thyme didn’t work, the mint should have offered some protection… Unless the lavender…” Tomoko-chan bites her lip, then goes quiet.

“No, no!” Yuuki shakes her head emphatically. “It did work! Even though I was falling, Tomoko-chan caught me! I was protected.”

Tomoko-chan stares at her for a long moment, face as impassive as a starless night before her smile breaks it, the bright tail of a comet against the dark. “That’s good, then,” she says, quietly.

Yuuki can see the look Kengo-kun’s giving her, and makes sure to stick her tongue out at him when Tomoko-chan isn’t looking. He rolls his eyes, then goes back to arguing with Miu about the culture festival, only to be distracted by Gen-chan’s interjections a second later.

Yuuki squeezes the sachet in her hand.

Everyone’s yelling to be heard, and it really is magic, the way they all found each other. The way they’re all held in each other’s orbit. What else could it be when the Rabbit Hutch is this warm? This full of stars?

Tomoko-chan’s eyes are shining as she joins the debate, and Yuuki can’t help but laugh.

It has to be magic. For sure.

 

* * *

 

Finding a suitable gift for Tomoko-chan should be easier than it actually is.

Research is being less helpful than Yuuki would like; every keyword seems to pull up something intangible, or impersonal, or knitting again, and that’s a no-go. Yuuki’s no copycat! Turning around and giving someone the same thing they gave has to go against _some_ kind of rule. She’s not sure what rule, exactly, but… Still. It doesn’t seem right.

Yuuki leans back in her chair, pouting up at the ceiling. Why is this so _hard_?

Sure, she doesn’t really have to do it, but she wants to. She wants to give Tomoko-chan something in return for everything she’s given her. Although…

Yuuki chews on her sleeve. One of the magic forums she’d stumbled upon had said something about how putting something out into the universe meant it would come back to her, and she really doesn’t want to trap Tomoko-chan into thinking she has to repay Yuuki. They might end up giving things to each other forever! Stuck in a loop!

Maybe this is a bad idea after all.

Yuuki sighs, then looks at her cellphone. Kengo-kun’s texts stare accusingly at her, commanding her to flirt like a normal person. His advice isn’t an option. Although, that’s probably for the best. He’d probably just go on about how magic isn’t real, and how she should just confess to Tomoko-chan instead of stressing over gifts.

Which! Sounds good in theory, but… what if it just make things weird, or uncomfortable? Tomoko-chan makes her feel understood, and safe, and Yuuki just wants to make her feel that way too. The thought of making Tomoko-chan uncomfortable is just…

No. It’s better not to ask for help from Kengo-kun.

It’s probably better to fly solo for this mission anyway. As tempting as it is to ask for help from Gen-chan, or even Usaka-san, there’s something about doing it herself that feels important.

Besides! If there’s one thing she’s learnt from googling twelve variations of  ‘magic gifts for important friends,’ it’s that intent matters a lot! And she intends to make the best gift possible for Tomoko-chan.

Yuuki brings her fist to her forehead, trying to tap thoughts into it. Thinking of what she wants to give in particular is too hard right now, so... What kind of feeling does she want to give? What did Tomoko-chan’s gifts say?

They said things like, ‘warmth,’ and ‘protection,’ and ‘safety,’ and wait. No.

Yuuki shakes her head. They were more active than that. _Tomoko-chan_ is more active than that. “I’ll keep you warm and safe,” is more like it. It’s more like her.

Yuuki doesn’t bother hiding the smile that’s taking over her face because of course, of course she knows what to give Tomoko-chan in return.

The moon shines bright through the window, and Yuuki says it once more, out loud. “Of course!” What could she have ever given Tomoko-chan other than a piece of the moon? No place has been more of a home to them, is warmer for them. No place has been safer for them.

Decisive, Yuuki starts scribbling out plans, opening more tabs on the computer while she works. She may not understand this sigil and rune stuff too well, but she’ll try her best.

 

* * *

 

The moon rocks say “Do Your Best!” and “Be Safe!”

In the end, Yuuki thought it was probably best to write her own messages; copying something else left too much room for mistakes, and she’d always been better at following her own path. Besides, she’d charged the rocks with so much intent that they would have to keep Tomoko-chan safe better than any symbol could.

Or, at least, that’s what she thought before she showed them to Tomoko-chan.

Tomoko-chan’s face is almost blank as she stares at them, gaze flickering from the rocks to the words to Yuuki.

“I really did try to keep my handwriting neat,” Yuuki says, hands fluttering, “but it turns out that carving is harder than it looks.” She brightens. “Did you know that the moon’s crust is rich in basalt? There used to be explosions and volcanos erupting all the time, though you wouldn’t think so now!”

Tomoko-chan nods, thoughtful, but still doesn’t say anything, and Yuuki really isn’t sure what to do.

“It worked really hard to look like it, um, does now,” she says. “Do your best, moon!” Do your best, Yuuki.

Finally, Tomoko-chan reaches out, and Yuuki’s sure that she’s going to pick up one of the rocks, but instead she reaches for Yuuki’s hand.

“Can I kiss you?” She asks, quiet and sincere, and she’s so beautiful, and—

What.

“What?!” Yuuki exclaims, but she doesn’t let go of Tomoko-chan’s hand because what if Tomoko-chan thought Yuuki didn’t _want_ to kiss her, except that means… “You want to kiss me?”

“Yes,” Tomoko-chan says, and she’s still just looking at Yuuki like she’s the only thing that matters, which is! Which is nice, but they’re on the moon! They’re in space, and there should be something to look at other than Yuuki!

“I won’t if you don’t want me to, though,” Tomoko-chan says. “You’re important, and if you don’t want me to—”

“No!” Yuuki says, too loud. “No, I— I want you to.” Her face feels so hot it might start forming a basalt crust of its own. “I would like that… a lot.”

And like the universe coming into alignment after the initial big bang, the clack of teeth bumping by mistake only makes the rest of the kiss better.

Maybe, Yuuki thinks, her forehead resting against Tomoko-chan’s as she takes a moment to breathe, separate for now, but still in her orbit, maybe the magic forums were right. Maybe the things she sent out into the universe are coming back to her. Or maybe she’s giving Tomoko-chan a fraction of the good she puts out each day. Or maybe they’re giving a little bit of themselves to each other.

Either way— pushing or pulling, giving or taking— Yuuki’s sure there’s more to come. And for now, that’s enough.  


End file.
